Detecting Enemy Situation

Chapter

Observed lessons

External appearance can tell you a lot about their internal situation.

An enemy in disarray can be beaten by a force a tenth of their size.

Morale is affected by predictability, unity, readiness, order. When they
have low morale you can defeat them with a force half their size.

Discussion

Just as you can tell a lot about a person by their
body language, you can
also read the state of an army by how it behaves, for example with certainty and
structure, or chaotic and uncertain. When the enemy is weakened by chaos or
lower morale, they may be beaten with a smaller, smarter, more motivated force.
The exact ratio of such forces may depend on many factors. History is littered
with defeats of large armies by much smaller forces.